Stop Laughing
by TheFinalNitro
Summary: This is a story set in the DC Universe, it's fan fiction. {Some mild language, violence and adult themes, reader discretion is advised. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locals or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Copyright
1. Chapter 1

**I - The Set Up**

The walls were closing in on him. Every. Damn. Wall. He looks around, wild-eyed as the voices told him more jokes. He loved his jokes. But the biggest and best joke was still not told. He needed to tell the joke, but now he had no audience. _Click_ he heard, now that was a joke. No one would ever let him go, he looked up. _Fumph, _he heard again and saw his purple suit hit the ground. But his current coat was binding him, holding him back.

"Good mornin' puddin!" she said as her knife cut into the strait jacket.

"Harley! How did? Never mind, daddy's got a new joke for Gotham! It's going to be a _blast!_" he said as his yellow teeth appeared. Breaking the red apart with his large sinister smile.

"Mista J, all the cells opened but yours! I had to free you, get dressed. I promise I won't watch," she said with a giggle and covered her eyes. Her fingers splayed apart so she could see him get dressed.

He stripped down quickly and dressed in his home-made suit, all the pockets had emptied out and he would need to rectify that. His room had no mirror and he needed to fix his hair. He motioned with one long finger, his grin as large as ever as they left his cell. People ran passed, screaming with delight, shots fired and Joker walked through all of this as if nothing was happening. He made his way to the bathroom, "Boys only Har, I need my privacy!" he said with the smile she fell in love with. He poked her nose and as he turned he sneered.

* * *

In the mirror his pale face was as white as ever, dark circles around his eyes that would never go away. Because the Joker never slept, not like a normal man. His fingers go through his greasy green hair, it had gotten quite long but he was starting to like it. His red lips smiled again, the red trailed from ear to ear so even when he slept, which he rarely had. He always was smiling. He felt through his pockets again and frowned.

"Not a single sharp object, I have to say Gotham's finest have really done a bag up job," he said and lifted his shirt to show his bruises from the last encounter with the Bat. He sneered again, he hated Bats, he annoyed by Harley and he never hired anyone with any intelligence. But this time everything would go differently! The door banged open and he thought Harley was getting a little antsy without him but some large man ran in with a knife. He pointed it at Joker.

"You don't have the guts, big boy," he said with his smile. The man charged at Joker, with a twirl, a crack and blood splashing on the mirror Joker stood over the man. He looked down at the man's cut and giggled, "apparently I was wrong." Joker said with a shrill of laughter. "Knife to meet you, oh that was bad. So bad I'll need to kill someone else and say something better. Bad Joker. Bad."

He left the bathroom having pocketed his new knife and he saw Harley waiting for him much like a puppy dog. He tried to not show his disdain, but maybe she had sent the guy in so he could get a knife. One of his favorite weapons.

"Oh puddin, I..." she said.

"Don't talk, let's just get out of here. I can't be in here any longer, these curtains are atrocious!" he said with a laugh and began to walk through the halls.

She followed him, bouncing, wanting to speak and he could tell but she was going to obey. That or pay the price. He looked around, trying to find another victim, he needed to kill them and make a better quip. His day would be ruined if his only joke was such a flop. You could say it was like a dull blade. _Better_, he thought but still a dumb joke. Good thing he had thought it. A lot of things went left in Joker's mind as he thought they would go upside down. Because right would be too predictable.

"MISTA J! I have a plan! Come here!" she said as she pulled him closer and whispered in his ear. His smile grew and he gave her something she never would have guessed. Something she had waited for. A kiss.

**II - Reunion**

"He's toying with me Gordon and I don't like being the butt of his jokes," he said angrily. He was standing on the ledge of the Gotham City Police building as Commissioner Gordon turned the bat signal off. He walked over and Batman turned his face was in the shadows. He didn't like when Jim walked to close. He had a feeling Gordon knew who he was, because Jim wasn't an idiot. He was one of the best and that's why Batman had always gone back to help him out.

"What is Joker up to now Batman?" he asked and as he took a few steps closer, Batman's feet move farther off the edge. His hand-held the grappling hook. He was ready to leave when he needed to.

"He's trying to like the Riddler, but he isn't clever enough to pull that off. He has given me three clues and I intend to find him. I intend to make sure he doesn't get out of Arkham for a long time," he said in a low gravely voice. But before Gordon could ask anything he had jumped, shot off his grappling hook and was swinging away.

As he swung away Jim stood there as always with a million questions on the tip of his tongue. But he had no one to ask them to and he knew no one with the answers to give. He pulled out a beat up old pack of cigarettes and looked at them. he had quit years ago and on tough days like these he liked to remind himself of who he was. How he was better. His cell phone chimed, he pulled it out to see **Barbra Gordon**. He smiled and answered the cell.

"Dad? I'm so very sorry, but I'm swamped with college essays and projects! I can't make it to dinner! I barely have time to tell you. I love you daddy, can we reschedule?" she asked and he smiled but it was a sad smile. He hadn't seen her in weeks and it bothered him.

"It's okay Barb. Next week, no matter what. Your having dinner with me. We'll even go out, my treat of course, Love you bye," he said. Hanging up was hard but at least she called. Unlike his ex-wife who had all but forgotten about him once Barbra entered college.

Halfway across town Barbra hung up her phone and just in time. Batman, Bruce landed in front of her. She looked up as he walked passed her. His voice was grumbling and she had to ask him to speak up.

"Saw your father, he's worried," he said a bit louder.

"I just called him, told him I have loads of homework and projects," she said as she pulled the cowl over her face. Her hair was tucked away. He had made a new cowl for her, it hid her hair better and helped her maneuverability. Plus getting no hair in her mouth was always a plus.

"You know I don't need you or Robin, I did this by myself for years before I got any sidekicks," he said and oddly enough his voice was gruffer than before. Like having them was hurting his pride. She now knew why Dick had left to become Nightwing.

"Bru—" she started and he held up his hand. "Batman, we're helping you because this city needs all of us. Where is T— Robin, anyway?" she asked as the sound of feet hitting the roof echoed. A few more steps and there he stood. Much taller than she had remembered but Tim Drake was still very young. He had a big smile on his face, hia hair was a spike-y mess.

"Sorry I'm late, dad kept asking me questions about his cell phone. He thinks I'm a tech wizard or something? Oh yeah that's right, I am!" he said with his big smile. Barbra walked over and pushed him like a little brother.

"Stop fooling around, we have clues to figure out. Joker has left these clues strategically. Firstly, a piece of blonde hair, possibly his victim or a red herring. Secondly, this card with latitude and longitude, Robin, I need you to get the scene. Batgirl, you are getting the DNA of the hair. Lastly, I shall figure out where they sell this bullet and I know it is one that isn't picked up at a retail chain," he ordered them, much like soldiers.

"What about me?" a new voice spoke, they had hardly heard his feet land.

"Nightwing!" both Barbra and Tim say in unison.

"Dick, what brings you to Gotham?" Batman asked. He never called him Nightwing. It was either a sign of respect or disdain.

He held up a Joker card that had latitude and longitude on it. Tim jumped up to snatch the card, he pulled out a small pocket computer and punched in the numbers. Within seconds the built-in GPS found the location and it was the building they were standing on.


	2. Chapter 2

**III - Nightwing**

He jumped from one building to the other, gaining speed. Always treated like a child, he thought to himself as he hopped, rolled and made his way through the old buildings of Gotham. He stopped on top of a gargoyle and looked down. He needed to make sure he was ready, he led up his left hand and looked through the gauntlets. He had his modified batarangs, smoke pellets, sedative darts and knockout gas near the wrist. He went to the right arm to find, knockout gas capsules, sticky tracers, sonic pellets, and a stun gun on his wrist. He bent down and against his left boot with his advanced cellphone with many built in tricks, flexi-cufffs, lock picks, first aid, and a listening device. He then checked the pockets on his right boot. He found his flares, rebreather for any toxins, just in case Scarecrow was around. He found his small first aid kit and read. On his back was his extendable baton he had mastered and as he stood up again he touched his mask. An infrared visor appeared over his eyes. He was ready to scout for leads.

He had been resorted to basic detective work but unlike Bruce who was looking for the owner of the bullet, he stuck with looking for basic clues. He bent down, grabbed the listening device and put it on. He scanned the area looking for warm bodies and he saw a few in an alley. He smirked, because unlike Bruce he wasn't afraid to smile and he jumped. He grabbed his line gun from his belt, fired and was swinging to the next building. He landed softly, rolled and started to run again. He had missed Gotham in a way, always something going on. He thought back to the roof, only moments ago.

_"New York doesn't need me and when this came to my door, I thought it was you. I should have known it was Joker. Still up to his old tricks?" he asked and Bruce walked over._

_"Dick, go search for clues, look for henchmen or Joker's girl, she never shuts up. I can focus on the ballistics at the Batcave and Bar-Batgirl can go to her place to get the DNA. Robin, you need to go to Arkham, find out how long Joker has been gone for," he said to them like a general. Always avoiding their names._

_Before any of them could talk he was off, the hiss of his line gun pulling him away. He was always on the move and another line gun shot off and Robin was on his way. Dick was still worried for Tim as the new Robin. Because he had left so bitterly that he thought Bruce would never have another Robin. But he had and Barbara had stayed on as well. But she had also stayed on the roof unlike Batman and Robin, she walked over to Nightwing and pulled closer to him. Her gloved hand touched his cheek and the memories of their youth had come back like a smack to the face._

_He kissed her back, but before it got too passionate and it was getting that way he broke away. _

_"No Barbra, we're not those people anymore and... come on, we have to get to work," he said and it killed him because he did still have feelings for her._

_"You sound like him," she said as he shot his line gun and zipped away. It was the meanest thing she had ever said to him._

He was away from her now, he had everything ready and he adjusted the ear piece. He grimaced at the static in his ear but he started to hear everything. He twirled the dial slowly and it focused on the voices that were speaking below him.

* * *

"Joker had it all..." said the thicker voice.

"Will you shut up, the Bats is around," a voice whispered.

"The Bats can't be everywhere," said Thick voice.

"Yeah well if the Joker's plans go bust, he can kill you instead of me," said Whisper voice.

"Don't worry it's not like his sidekicks are around, _she_ is taking care of them," said the Thick voice.

"Bird brain," said a sweet voice.

Before Nightwing could see who call him everything went dark. He was quite sure he had seen Harley Quinn swinging a crochet mallet. He never felt himself being pulled away before some large henchman lifted him up.

"One down, two to go," she said and dropped a Joker card with a small clue and black lip mark bellow the clue.

**IV - Robin**

He landed on the small island after swinging through the bridge. Instantly he knew everything was wrong in Arkham. He pulled out his baton but unlike Nightwings he had made adjustments to it. His black cape whipped around, smacking into his nearly all red costume. The only other color was a yellow belt and yellow R on his left peck. Instead of just a mask he had a hood covering his black hair and he flipped a switch near his cape. His voice distorted which he had made with Bruce a few years ago. It had helped the team, but Nightwing had yet to get his. He needed to tread careful because he was going to interview the guards and madmen. He hoped.

He walked around the familiar asylum and he noticed that there were no guards. No one was patrolling, and he grabbed his baton to be at the ready. He took small steps, looking around for something because he worried that everyone had broken out of the asylum. His grip tightened on the baton and his thumb hover over a button, there was no way he could be stopped. He felt confident and a smile appeared on his face. He heard footsteps, picking up, getting louder, closer and he turned around to see a man coming at him. He wore a trench coat and his face was covered in all black. Tim knew exactly who it was, Jeremiah Arkham alias Black Mask 2.

Without hesitation he hit the button and the baton exploded out, being held together with wires and Tim began to spin. The tip wrapped around Black Mask's legs and Tim pulled with great force. The man hit the ground and Tim hit the second button releasing a few thousand volts. The body of the Black Mask shook and stopped, Tim hit another button and the baton became whole again.

"Night-y night Black Mask," he said as he bent over the guy. He opened the trench coat with the baton and saw no guns. He leaned closer and pulled off the mask to reveal the former owner, the Last Arkham. He tossed the mask aside as he stood up and turned around. He walked away from the unconscious mad man and into the den of mad men. He had a feeling he would be meeting up with quite the Rouges Gallery of his and Bruce's former foes. The main door had blown off and the grip Tim had on the baton tightened up once again.

He heard laughing and got in the defensive stance Bruce had taught him, he held up his baton with his finger at the ready. The laughing got louder and he walked forward, reaching a four-way he looked around, spinning slowly on his heels. Bursting through the doors of the asylum was Joker's henchmen all covered in face paint. Tim smiled again as they got closer, this would be too easy. He flipped backwards, pressed the button and spin in the air, hitting all eight of the henchmen. He landed, swung again and tripped three of the clowns. He cartwheels, knocking another clown over and swirled kicking two others. He spun the baton over his head and the wired wrapped around the necks, he bent down with a thrust and the two last clowns knocked each other out. He hit the button to retract the baton and laughed.

"Was that the best you got Joker?" he asked and heard a laugh.

"Do you know what day it is today Robin?" he heard the strange voice say.

Tim continued down the hall, after the voice. It continued to ask about the day, getting angrier as he got closer. He wanted to answer but he was more worried about who the voice belonged to. He walked slowly, baton ready to strike at a moments notice.

"It's Wednesday... wait... no... it's past midnight..." he said and looked around. Pain shot through his spine and he hit the ground with a loud thud.

"Correct, Happy Thor's Day Robin," said the man and Tim looked up to see a pale obese man holding a large hammer.

Everything was getting fuzzy as the fat guy lifted the hammer yet again and before he got struck, he knew who the guy was. Calendar Man and with that final thought everything went black as the hammer fell. His entire body hurt when everything became visible again. His arms hurt, they'd been tied up and he felt other hands and groans. He felt the blood stinging his left eye and the sharp pains shot through his back and his legs. His left leg got dislocated, he felt someone move and looked over.

"Nightwing! What happened?" he asked.

"Harley Quinn happened," he retorted and felt dumb.

"Yeah well Calendar Man happened to me," he said and laughed. It hurt to laugh.

"Don't worry boys, the show will begin soon enough!" they heard a voice and knew it right away.

"Joker!" they said in unison and the mad man began to laugh his sick and twisted laugh.


	3. Chapter 3

**V - Batgirl**

The small computer in Barbra's room whirred and hitched as she turned it on. Being at Gotham University had taken quite a bit of money the Gordon's didn't really have. She wouldn't ask Bruce for a loan but she should have gone to the Bat Cave with him to get the DNA samples she was about to extract, Her dimly lit apartment was small, a bit stinky, not on her account and a bit too hot for her liking. But it was home, her own personal Batgirl Cave. She rubbed the tower of her computer that was a few years old and talked to it.

"Don't fail me now Bessie," she said with a small grin.

Unlike Bruce, most of his sidekicks had senses of humor, something she was sure got removed from him at a young age. Her screen came up and she was ready, she pulled out the one thing she had 'borrowed' from Wayne Tech and placed the hair in it as she connected it to the computer. She pulled out a small vial that she had placed the hair in and dumped it into the Wayne Tech machine. She closed it up and went to her small kitchen to make herself some InstaNoodles. Another perk of poverty, she thought with a small laugh as she poured the hot water into a bowl of dried noodles.

As the microwaved dinged she walked over, her cowl hanging from her neck as she grabbed a fork and her InstaNoodles. She held the hot bowl and walked over to the computer as it was still analyzing the hair. She blew on the noodles, her computer became louder as the scan continued and she never heard the creak of her door. She never the pick as it clicked and unlocked her door. It got closed so quietly and the steps behind her were ever so quiet she never noticed the Joker behind her. Her old dirty screen never showed his reflection. The computer beeped and he stayed quiet, waiting for his clue to appear. The strand of DNA appeared on the screen and the computer began to quiet down.

* * *

As the computer began to asses the DNA, Barbra opened the police servers she had Tim help her hack into and she clicked a few programs. The DNA began to get sequenced into the server and as it looked through all the data from Arkham Asylum, she waited and ate. Her eyes widened, she had thought the hair would have been from someone in the city. Not a criminal, she slurped her tasteless noodles. Joker had slowed his breathing down and when Harley Quinn's mug shot popped up two sounds could be heard, a gasp and the fire of a gun. Joker began to giggle softly and before long he was laughing full-out. He couldn't hold it in anymore or he would have died.

Two large men came up in a hurry and picked up the bleeding crumpled body of Barbra Gordon. Her cape got drenched with her blood from the bullet hole. The Joker bounded around the room, giggling away as his clown henchmen carried the body of Barbra Gordon. Everything went black for her when she got shot, she had only been shot once before but it had hit her in her bat suit, lined with Kevlar and it had only hurt. But the pain from this was too great for her. She felt from the chair instantly and when she awoke, she could barely feel any pain. Especially her legs.

Numb, no more tingling sensation like when you sit on your leg for too long. She had felt the tingle after long assemblies at high school or having long sitting sessions at the police station all day as her father tried to keep the place running and babysit her. She couldn't even feel pain, which in a sense was nice but her spine hurt the most, it was on fire. A throbbing pain that gnawed away at her, making her want to scream. But she wasn't going to give Joker the satisfaction. She felt her wrists, they got tied up, and tightly. She felt cold metal on her jaw line and she held her eyes closed. Her heart beat faster as it lingered on her jaw, but the cold metal left her face.

She heard muffled voices, still not full awake but she knew one was the Jokers. He was laughing about something, but when wasn't he laughing? She didn't want to know because he was unstable and if he wasn't laughing he was probably doing something more heinous than she cared to think about.

The shaking woke her up and the voice of her boys made her eyes get wider. She looked behind and to her sides, seeing her friends. Tim and Dick, both in the same mess and she couldn't see as Joker paced around a computer. But she heard him swearing.

"Barb, Bruce is on his way..." Tim said with a smile.

"How do you know?" she asked.

She didn't hear the explosion but she felt it, the dirt and ruble fell around them in a dust cloud. She coughed, the ringing in her ears got louder before slowly subsiding. She had no idea if the explosion had hit Joker or any of his men. But she could hear the rubble still falling as her hearing returned gradually. She coughed again and heard a laugh but it wasn't the annoying laugh of Joker. It was Nightwing, Dick was laughing and Barbra looked surprised. He had become so much like Bruce it was almost weird to hear him laugh as well.

"Oh, we have a very good idea," Dick chimed in.

**VI - Batman**

He dropped the shells into the small tube, closed the top and popped it into a large machine. He flipped switches, grunted and tore off the cowl. He took in sharp breaths, even if the cave he was in wasn't the freshest air it was better than breathing in the air through his cowl. He tore off his voice modifier and tossed in on his desk. He sat in his chair, his cape floating over the back of the chair. He pulled closer to the computer and started to type away like he was writing a novel. His eyes fixed on the screen as it lit up and started to show a digital representation of the bullets. The computer beeped, booped and numbers started to appear as three-dimensional models appeared next to him. The hologram floated and he rolled the chair over to it and looked at it.

"These are defiantly high-end bullets, Black Market," he said softly.

Thinking about what he was looking at, he rubbed his stubble covered chin and itched it because he hadn't had much time to shave. He knew Alfred would say something soon but with this new threat going on he had to focus. He looked up at the screen and saw it become static ridden and as the figure of a dark shadow wearing glasses the reflected the light was filling the screen. He grabbed his cowl and shoved it on as fast as he could. He was breathing a bit heavy, he felt like he'd been seen and he heard a familiar voice.

"Get away nerd," said the voice.

There was a loud explosion and blood splashed on the screen. The body slumped over and was soon pushed aside. The lights in the dark room brightened and there he was. Joker filled the screen with his scared face, with its white make up, thick red lips, yellow teeth and bright green hair. His crocked smile appeared and Bruce sat there staring at a man he hated but would never kill. He couldn't become like the Joker, no matter how much the Joker pushed his buttons. The psychopath stared him down and laughed, he had broken out yet again and Batman wondered why he kept bringing him to Arkham.

"Bat Brain! Oh I missed that gloomy mug of yours, why don't you ever call me? Or text? I thought we had a connection when you bashed my skull in!" he said with a loud howl of a laugh.

"What do you want now," Batman said, grabbing his voice modifier and clicking it on. "How did you escape this time?"

"Details, details, things you don't need to know Bats, oh lovely place you got there. I like how dark it is, really brings out the light in your eyes," he said with another shrill laugh.

Bruce tightened his fist, trying not to show his agitation because Joker would continue to mess with him. He watched as Joke looked around like a confused child. His large red scar kept breaking to show those awful yellow teeth and soon he pushed away from the computer and Bruce could see into the room Joker was in. Even past the small splatter of blood he could see them. All three of his sidekicks, the kids he had taught his ways all tied up. Squirming around, trying to break free. Had something been in his hand it would shatter, but for now his gloved hand stayed clenched.

"As you can see I have your Bat family with me, there is Old Robin, Nightsomething and then we have baby Robin and Girly Bats! All of them right here," he said as he danced around their unconscious bodies.

Joker giggled as he ran back to the screen, getting to close to it as he began to talk yet again. "So, will you get to them before I kill them? As you can see I have no feelings for the man who got me into your computers, one of the smartest men alive, well that isn't prancing around in spandex. BOOM, easy as that... so who is to say I won't..." he said.

Joker jumped over to the three of them, holding a gun to Robin's head. He thought about how young Tim was, how innocent and he felt his blood begin to boil. This time he was going to hurt Joker, hurt him more than he ever had. His teeth gritted as he stared at the idiot clown jumping around with the gun. Probably a prop one, using it to anger Batman even more. The barrel of the gun slowly ran down Barbra's jaw line and Bruce slowly stood up. He looked around, trying to recognize anything. He looked out the window, trying to see some land mark, anything. He needed to get to the kids, _why had they come along!? They are not fit for this, why had I trained them! Their deaths will be on my hands, like so many others. _He thought as he recognized a building in the background. He needed to move quick, but bursting through the roof from his Bat-Wing would be a bad idea.

He then realized he didn't care, he had one of the fastest ways to travel and as he stormed down the stairs and through the cave he made it to where the Bat-Wing was. He didn't smile, not time for that but an inner part of him was glad he was climbing into the Bat-Wing. Joker wouldn't suspect it and as the jet engines revved up, he felt the thing shake. He strapped in, looked around and began to flip switches. As it floated upwards, he set the coordinates into the computer and flew out of the cave. The water broke apart as his left the cave and took to the night skies. The computer beeped away as the location locked on. He pushed the thrusters forwards and felt the speed increase.


	4. Chapter 4

**VII - The Punchline**

The ruble slowly fell down but the dust was thick in the room and the three captured members of the Bat Family coughed and tried not to breath in the wall dust. It didn't take long before the dust settled and Batman had already made his way in and was in the rafters of the old warehouse. The hole in the wall showed the dark streets of Gotham and nothing else, Joke slowly arose from under a pile of boxes house cream filled snacks. Joker jumped around, covered in the artificial goo and was laughing wildly.

"Bats really creamed me! But only the cream of the crop rise to the top!" Joker spat out between fits of laughter.

"Where's Bruce?" Tim asked in a whisper.

"He's here, Bruce doesn't just blow stuff up for his own amusement, he has a plan Tim," Dick said with certainty.

Barbra stayed quiet, the pain in her legs was too fiery, too white-hot and she passed out again. Joke continued to bound around the room as Batman was in the rafters. He looked down on the situation, he could see blood near the three hostages, Dick, Barbra and Tim. But he couldn't tell who was bleeding and it bothered him. He quickly walked around and saw some guards as they searched the area. As one went left, Batman hooked his line gun to his belt, pulled a lever and he was slowly descending down. With a button push he flew down, snatched up the clown guard and with another quick flick he yanked up the guard.

The guard screams got muffled by the gloved hand of Batman and as Batman fell, the clown guard swung back and forth by his foot. With such a quick motion, one Bruce had perfected, he rolled the guard, tied his leg and was on the ground setting up his next shot to enter the rafters again. His feet hit down delicately and he ran across the large pipe, his line gun ready to fire had anything gone wrong. He saw the lone guard and quickly grabbed his cape, kicking off the pipe he flew down and as he picked up speed he thrust his feet forward and his boots imprinted upon the guard's clown face. They both hit the ground hard, the guard getting knocked out and Bruce rolling, firing his line gun and he was running around in the rafters yet again.

He couldn't feel the pain in his beat up body, all he felt was adrenaline and he continued to take out guards with Joker slowly noticing them not reporting back. Dick looked over to see Tim trying to cut his rope but the angle of his baterang wasn't working. He tried to get his attention by making a noise and when Tim looked at him, he nodded to his own hands. He was wiggling his fingers and Tim slowly put the baterang down so Dick could grab it. Once his fingers felt the metal he pinched and had a hold of it. He had to hold tight as he started to saw the rope. Across the room Joker was yelling into a hand set.

"He's here Harley not get the surprise before it is too late!" Joker yelled at her through the walkie-talkie.

He quickly ran down the stairs over the group and was close to Dick's face. Dick could smell the rancid breath emitted from the mouth full of crooked yellow teeth. He could see the crimson lips break apart as he smiled.

"Tisk, tisk bird brain," Joker said and reached down, pulled out the small baterang. He examined it and even pricked his finger on the edge. He let out a giggle, "Not getting out that easy."

Joker pocketed the baterang just as small pellets landed around him, he didn't notice as they exploded. Filling the room up with smoke. Foot steps, loud ones. Running, jumping. Other noises that Joker couldn't figure out. He was coughing and covering his eyes. The joke was on him and he didn't like it. He wouldn't become the punchline, again. He wasn't going to fail because he had crippled Batgirl, he had them captured and he was going to kill them. He grabbed his green hair as the voices in his head got louder, telling him to have not showed off. Telling him his jokes weren't funny. He heard the thick distorted voice of Batman in his head. Never laughing, always serious.

* * *

"Barbra!" a voice yelled in the clouds of smoke. "You monster!" The voice yelled again.

Joker felt the fist hit his gut, then he felt more pain explode over his body. Every part of him hurt but he was laughing. He couldn't stop laughing. Batman had gotten his joke, he was going to finally do it. Batman was going to finally kill him and the Joker would win. Joker would have his last laugh after he was six feet under. He felt his body leave the ground and when the crumbled pile of purple, green and pale skin got up. The smoke was gone, he was going to get to see Batman kill him. He couldn't contain his excitement.

"I see you found my present Bat- you're-" he said as Dick flew from the cloud of smoke.

Joker didn't know one of the sidekicks was going to kill him. **NO THIS WAS ALL WRONG!** his mind screamed. Batman needed to kill him. He felt the fists of the boy blunder. Each one to his chest and abdomen, each one harder. Each fist angrier than the last. He could see the blood lust in the boys eyes. Joker spat out his blood as the fists dug deeper into his soft skin. He couldn't breath, couldn't laugh as the original Robin was punching him harder. Joker fell to the ground, he couldn't stand any more and Dick pulled him up by the collar and their eyes met. Joker didn't know much about fear but a small sliver in him felt something like fear. Something foreign something he didn't like.

"I'm going to hurt you Joker, I'm going to break you!" he said to Joker.

He held back the tears in his eyes and when he saw that smirk of Joker he couldn't hold himself back. He threw Joker to the concrete floor, still holding him. He heard the wet thud of his body as he hit and he pulled him up quickly. Dick started to laugh as he repeated the last motion. As the ground came back into contact with Joker he heard the laughter less and less but it actually had gotten louder and louder. Dick ripped up and he grip on the purple lapel of the Joker got loosened. He looked over to see the stern face of Bruce. Not of Batman. But of Bruce.

His cowl was off and he was looking straight at Dick, "Tim is bringing Barbra to the Bat Cave. Alfred will make sure she is swiftly changed and brought to the hospital. Richard Grayson, stop laughing and come over here." Bruce said.

Bruce never called Dick by his full name and soon his angry, messed up laughter stopped as he started to sob. He loved Barbra. She was once a girlfriend and now after they had split, she was like a best friend. He loved her and she got stolen from him. Like his parents, and he felt the arms of Bruce embrace him. He had never gotten any form of comfort from Bruce Wayne in all his years as his ward. Bruce had always been cold to him, never a father but now he felt like he had his father back for one moment. He let his arms wrap around Bruce.

"Is she alive Bruce? Is she?" he asked in a broken voice.

"Yes, but she is injured severely, and-" he said "was tackled. Dick's body was thrown aside by some beast.

He looked around as he slowly got up and pulled his cowl on, Bruce had left the building and it was just Batman. Tim and Barbra were safe in the Bat-Wing, while Dick was off somewhere. Probably unconscious. He flipped his visors on and the heat signatures were off. He looked around quickly, unsure of what to do. Whatever had hit his was large, he probably could see it with his naked eye but he hoped he could get a leg up with the heat sensors on. He heard a loud thud, they got louder and faster. Whatever it was, it was angry, large and close but he couldn't see any heat. He flipped off the heat sensors and saw it. Killer Croc was in his face and he quickly used his line gun to dodge the charging beast.

"Do you like the croc-cendo to this party! It's really easy to get people on your side when all you have to say is, I'll let you kill Batman!" Joker said with a wheezing laugh.

His face looked worse than ever, it was swollen and bloody as he was crawling away. Harley ran over, she had let out Killer Croc; she lifted up Joker and they ran away. The roar of Killer Croc filled the room and Batman was smart about this. He knew he had to. Croc paced around on the warehouse floor, getting angrier by the second. He continued to make his horrible scream as Batman watched. He looked around, Croc was partly cold-blooded and when he saw some exposed piped he knew what to do. But he needed to check and see if they were cold because if they were warm it would be pointless. He pulled out a baterang and tossed it in the opposite direction. Croc followed the sound as it beeped.

Batman took his cape and glided down to the pipes, sneaking as silent as possible. He took a breath and put his hand on the pipe. It burned and he pulled his hand away to see it had ice flakes. He noticed Croc looking around, he pulled out another baterang and whipped it towards Croc. It hit the hide with such force it made a loud metallic yet leathery sound. It wasn't natural, he knew that much. Croc's yellow eyes narrowed and the teeth could be seen as he charged at Batman. He had his hand at the ready and hoped his gloves would protect his hands long enough to stop Croc. As the beast took to the air, Batman thrust his hand and yanked with all his might. He felt the pipe burning his hand as he aimed it at Croc. The cold blast of air stopped the monster and the pain shot through Bruce's arms and to his brain as fast as a bullet.

The beast slowed to a stop, Batman let go of the pipes, ran around Croc as he threw off his gloves. His hands looked fine but he had no time to really look. He pulled out some cuffs, they would have to do for now and he tried to restrain the slowed down monster. As he held the cuffs, he threw down the Killer Croc and looked around for chains. When he spotted some, he quickly made his way to them. He had moved as fast as possible or it could all end badly. Croc was an idiot but he wouldn't fall for the same trick twice. He Batman grabbed the chains and brought them over as fast as he could. Croc was moving around but before he could break out of the cuffs Batman had him securely tied up.

There he was like the beginning of the night, his feet were on the edge of the police headquarters. He looked over to Jim Gordon, a man he would consider a friend. a friend he had betrayed.

"He got away from me Jim. He always slips through my fingers and now..." he said but he didn't want to finish.

"Will she? Batman, will my daughter ever walk again?" he pleaded.

"I'm sorry Jim, I failed you and in a way Gotham as well. Do you know anyone that can help out with your medical bills?" he said.

He wanted to come out and tell Jim, pull down his mask and explain that this billionaire playboy was moonlighting as a vigilante but he couldn't do it. He needed to keep this secret, they had found a way to hide Barbra's secret as Batgirl. Alfred had done wonders with that. He wanted to pull out his fat check book and write a check but he knew Jim was also stubborn.

"Barbra knew Mr. Wayne but he isn't around these days, always traveling the world. If I had the money I would as well," Jim said and looked down. "We'll manage, we Gordon's always do. We're a tough family to kill and the Joker learned that when he only paralyzed her.

If only he had known how close she had been to death. Bruce had examined her suit before meeting up with him. It had saved her life but not her legs. He hide his fear, anger and sadness from Jim.

"If I have to hunt down this Wayne and borrow the money I will, as a sorry Jim. Sorry I couldn't stop this mad man..." he said and looked off at the thick brightly lit moon.

"He needs to be put away fro _good" _Jim said and Bruce knew what he meant. Arkham wasn't good enough but this blood lust was not like Gordon.

"Jim you know I won't kill him, but we will get him and put him away for good. I'll make sure his last punchline is his final. He will be put in the highest of security wings, the strongest prison and that will need Wayne Tech funding," he said and before Jim could ask what that meant Batman was gone. Without a sound and into the night. Continuing his job that would never end.


End file.
